26 JUNE 1897, Page 10

The Romance of a King's Life. By J. J. Jusserand.

(T. Fisher Unwin.)—The " King " is the first James of Scotland, the " romance " begins with the view which the Royal prisoner caught of Jane Beaufort from the window of his chamber, and ends with the tragic death which overtook him in the prime of his manhood. This story is told with much picturesque vigour by M. Jusserand. James had but a short life—the Scottish air was rapidly fatal to his race—but he lived it to the full while it lasted, and his historian does justice to its intrinsic interest. Some curious matters are to be found in the appendix, as /Eneas Sylvius's impressions of Scot- land, and the story of the "bar lass," the Catharine Douglas who made her arm serve for a bolt when the murderers were breaking into the King's chamber. It seems of doubtful authenticity.